Charles City police investigating bottle bombs

Charles City police are investigating the discovery of what are being called "MacGyver-style" homemade bombs on a school playground. Police Captain Brad Gibson says there have been two recent cases at Washington Elementary School where they’ve found "dangerous" explosives — made from plastic pop bottles.

He says they’ve over-pressure explosive devices where someone mixed chemicals in a bottle and screwed the cap back on, with the chemical reaction causing the bottle to expand and eventually explode, spraying the chemicals all over. Gibson says parents taking their children to the playground will want to look around to make sure there aren’t any bottles laying around.

He says it’s up to the parents to make sure their kids are safe and if you see a bottle, possibly with chemicals or tin foil around it, stay away and call the police to have them check it out. Police originally found two unexploded bottles, but in another instance found seven bottles on the playground and some of them had exploded. Gibson says they hope to find out who is putting the bottle bombs out on the playground before someone gets hurt.

If you see a suspicious bottle or have any information about who may be putting the bottles out on the playground, Gibson asks that you contact the Charles City Police Department at (641) 228-3366. "MacGyver" is a reference to a TV show that first aired in the mid 1980s about a resourceful secret agent.